"Behind every beautiful thing, there's some kind of pain"

- Bob Dylan

​

KAT DAR

Blogger

"My biggest flaw is pride. You never do realise how much pride you have until you really look at yourself. Pride is such a selfish trait. Pride could make or break you. I always thought I was fair, but I actually wasn't. I'm very much learning to drop my pride and admit my wrong doings. There is a quote from the bible that really resonates with me "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble". How can you expect to live a peaceful life is you are not humble. Drop the pride, you only end up hurting yourself.”

YULIA CHINATO

Photographer

"The hardest part is to find yourself I think. We are always on the search for something new or something better, we are never happy with what we actually have in the present. I always thought that when I moved to London from Russia life would be great and go how I expected, but it didn't and I started to miss some of the things that I took for granted, I didn't appreciate what I already had. You have to learn that in life it is the little things that make all the difference.”

ELIZABETH WARBURTON

Performer/Entrepreneur

“Sat on a beach in Egypt looking out at the crystal clear waves I realised something, I was there in body, but I certainly wasn't there in mind or spirit. How could I be sat there in paradise, doing my dream job for 4 weeks in an incredible country and feel so unhappy? For 6 months now I have been having a constant daily battle in my head. It was exhausting. No matter how hard I tried to turn my thoughts around I just couldn't. I had to admit defeat. I was suffering with depression. Happy, confident Lizzie. Always the one up dancing at a party, ambitious, driven and clearly modest! The one everyone always seemed to come to for advice, the one who had her shit together (or so people said.) When I finally admitted it to myself, something clicked and I wasn't scared anymore. I'd been so frightened to tell people because I felt like I was miserable and moaning all the time and well, who likes to admit they are suffering with a mental illness? It sounds so dramatic and anyone who knows me knows I despise drama!

One thing was for sure - it was slowly destroying me and it had to stop.

It wasn't just destroying me, it was destroying my business and my relationship too. My career, my future, my plans - they all seemed foggy now. That's when I knew it all had to change - Lizzie had to return."

VALTERS PUDANS

Photographer

“I'm one of those people who have a brilliant memory. Everyone says that I am lucky to have such a good memory as I remember all of the good things that have happened in my life but it comes with a price - I also remember all the things I wish never happened; the choices I made, the words that people said about me. I was literally the only kid in town at the time who loved photography and I spent a lot of my time wandering around taking photos of nature, light and life itself; becuase of this I was rejected somehow. I never had friends when I started out that would tell me to keep on going, follow your dream, your photos are getting better. I was so scared to put content out for so long, I was ashamed to say - I'm a photographer.”

KATIE SINGH

Dancer

“Handling rejection is something I have found difficult in my performing career so far. The 'no' that has been given to me multiple times at the end of a long day of auditioning often reminded me of points in my life where I have felt unworthy. Finding the strength to pick myself up and start all over again, with a smile plastered on my face and my spark faded, was a challenge I often faced. The fear of not being good enough has affected my relationships with friends and family in the past. This often led to me partying too hard, which was my way of escaping. I wanted to bring some sort of fun back in to my life but I found I was just numbing the emotional stress of constant rejection. The struggle can prove to be more than worth it sometimes though. The feeling of booking a job you’re so passionate about doing is truly rewarding.”

EMI MCDADE

Singer/Songwriter

“My flaws? Blimey - there's plenty to choose from! I'd say the biggest one for me is I've always felt different. As a child, I was always the odd one out - it was made very clear to me. Mixing the childhood desire to 'fit in' with a whole dollop of self-doubt can be a bad concoction - it's a case of taking those insecurities and using them to turn your weaknesses into strengths.”

ANTONIA NAE

Fashion Designer

"I believe that self-confidence is very important in almost every aspect of our lives, but I struggle to build it. Confident people inspire confidence in others and gaining the confidence in others is one of the key ways in which a self-confident person finds success. The good news is that self-confidence really can be learnt and built upon."

CHRISSY BROOKE

Dancer/Actress/Model

"I always expected so much from myself that I started wondering 'what will ever be enough'? I left home when I was 10 years old - sacrificing so much of my precious childhood and evidently family relationships. An anxiety started growing within me that my career would have to be successful enough to prove that it had all been worth it..."